Josh Montague and Rebecca Budnick realize it could have been a lot worse — the fire in the home on North Stepney Road this week could have been roaring — but that didn’t make it any less scary when Montague fell into a hole in the steps and couldn’t get out.
Even with Budnick holding on to him, the assistant chief of Aberdeen Fire Department couldn’t pull himself up, and if he fell, Budnick was going to fall, too.
Montague sounded a mayday call and within minutes he was pulled to safety early Monday morning by members of Aberdeen’s Rapid Intervention Team.
For both of them, though, those few minutes felt like an eternity, they said Wednesday afternoon at Aberdeen Fire Department, two days after their harrowing experience.
“It was definitely a scary experience. I hope we never have to experience it again,” said Montague, 30, who works for Baltimore County Fire Department at Station 15 in Eastview.